Part 2 - Busted!
by Lancer1968
Summary: Adult Intervention


Busted!

Summary: Adult Intervention

(Part 2)

Any and All Disclaimers Applicable

That Night – Lancer Ranch

Johnny rode home with the Val's words ringing in his ears. He realized, all kidding aside, that he had been tricking his brother into completing jobs that both of them should have been doing together. He felt a pang of remorse at what he had though were harmless pranks that he had instigated against Scott as he replayed Val's words in his head.

"A toast ta the sweet smell of victory, instead," Val chuckled while he raised his glass. "All jokin' aside, Johnny, when your brother figures this out, I hope it's not in my town."

"Aww, Val, ya worry ta much," Johnny said. "Tell ya what, next coin toss, I'll let him win, I'll use only one coin."

"Ya do that, just not in Green River," cautioned Sheriff Crawford. "I don't want no brotherly battles ta break-up in my town. I'll throw both your rumps into a cell ta cool off."

"Promise," smiled Johnny. "'sides Scott ain't much for your coffee, don't suspect he'll want ta be stuck in your cell."

# # #

Johnny bedded down Barranca while he listened to an ear-banging from Jelly, who had been sound asleep in the small room at the back of the barn. Jelly had gotten up to investigate the noises in the barn, came out his room, wearing a long night shirt and holding a double-barred shotgun. When he saw Johnny he launched into his barrage.

"Johnny Lancer, you need to stop shirking all the work off to your brother. You and that damn trick coin of yours," he said as he pointed his finger at Johnny. "If you don't, you give me no other choice but to put an end to it myself."

Johnny held up his hands in surrender, "I know, I know. Val already warned me. Guess I have been takin' ol' Boston on snipe hunts."

Jelly groused, "Yes, you have. Don't do it anymore. He was plum worn out to a frazzle, doing a job that you both were to have done."

Johnny grinned, "I gotcha. Now will ya go ta sleep, Jelly. I'll figure out somethin' ta make penitence ta my brother. On the true."

"You better," Jelly said. "You're father was looking for you, too."

Johnny's heart skipped a beat, "He was? He mad?"

"Depends upon your meaning of mad," Jelly surmised. "He wasn't looking too happy to discover you had taken off for town and that you missed dinner."

"Shit!" he exclaimed as he looked towards the darken house. "Looks like everyone already went ta bed. Maybe he'll forget about his mad by mornin'".

"Are you talking about the same Murdoch Lancer that I know?" Jelly said.

"See ya tomorrow, Jelly," Johnny said.

# # #

Johnny removed his boots before he snuck into the hacienda via the kitchen. He started up the back stairs when he jumped at the sound of Murdoch's deep voice echoing in the dark empty room.

"John, where have you been, son?" Murdoch asked as he stuck a match to light the kerosene lamp on the table.

"Busted! He only uses "John" when he's in a pucker," Johnny thought as he grimaced and turned to face his father, "In Green River with Val."

"I see, on a work day?"

"Well, Murdoch," he said as he shifted on his feet. "I didn't have any work ta do, so I figured…"

"You figured that you could just take off, without checking with me first? I could have assigned you elsewhere, like the south gully or north fork or fence riding or any of the hundreds of jobs that a working ranch has every day," finished Murdoch. "Sit," he directed.

Johnny hesitated as he glanced at his father, before complying, "Yes sir." He had that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that he was in trouble.

"Scott tells me that you won another coin toss with him."

"Yes sir," Johnny said as he threaded ever so carefully.

"Which is why, he single-handedly cleaned the chicken coop, a task I recall that I had assigned to you both to complete."

"Yes sir," Johnny said as he squirmed in his seat, thinking, "say as little as possible, be polite and don't argue with him."

"There will be no more bets on chores, John," Murdoch said with decisiveness. "Do you understand?"

"Yes sir. I thought the exact same thing on my way home," Johnny grinned, hoping humor might appease his ol' man.

"Did you, now?" Murdoch replied. "Great minds think alike, so they say. Did you also think that perhaps you need to curtail your visits to town during the week?"

"No sir, but I will ponder upon that notion," Johnny quickly said as he glanced at Murdoch's stern face with the firm set of his jaw line.

"Ponder this too, tomorrow; you are going to spend all day with Ciprano and his crew castrating steers in the south field."

"Fair enough, Murdoch," said Johnny. "Can I go ta bed now?"

"In a minute, son, first I would like that double-headed coin that you have," he said holding his hand out.

"What? Who told ya?"

"John, no one told me anything. Its common sense that no one wins as much coin tosses as you have without a trick coin. Let me have it."

Johnny reached into his tight pocket and felt the two coins, wrestling with his decision. His father indicate coin, he had two.

"Now, John."

Johnny sighed, "Yes, sir, guess ya better have 'em both." He handed them over to Murdoch who turned them over in his palm. "Does Scott know?" he asked softly.

"No, I made an educated guess," said Murdoch. "But even I didn't realize that you had two of these."

"If it's any consolation, I only used them with Scott," he confessed.

Murdoch looked at his son, "I'll leave this to you to make amends with him for this trickery, John. After all, brothers will be brothers and some things are best left up to them to sort out. These, however, belong to me and are going into my safe."

"Yes sir. Truly, I was goin' ta stop usin' them anyway. "tween ya, Val and Jelly, I got an earful bein' busted."

"Young man, you're lucky that getting earfuls is all that you got, if you were a few years younger, you would be out in the barn for the conclusion of this discussion."

Johnny gulped as he realized that his father would have done it, were he a punk kid, "Yes, sir, no more double-headed coins for me."

"To bed, young man, you have a long day tomorrow, staring at the hind quarters of many, many steers. I guarantee you that the chickens coop will look better to you after tomorrow's assignment."

"Yes sir. I'll talk ta Scott first thing in the morning'."

"Good night, my son," Murdoch turned his head so Johnny didn't see him smile as he thought, "Raising almost grown sons at his age, wasn't as bad as I had originally feared."

~Fin~

Sun Dancer


End file.
